Some Funny Expressions

In this article, I have tried to share 11 Chinese expressions which I consider funny. I have also provided the pinyin, a translation and the general meaning of the said expressions. Some of the expressions are difficult to translate, such as 花花公子 in which case I broke down the expression in parts which I translated individually.

If you’d like to share your own expressions please leave a comment. Enjoy!

你皮子痒

Pinyin:

Ni3 Pi2 Zi3 Yang3

Translation:

“Your skin is itchy”

Meaning:

This expression is used by someone who wants to beat someone else. The person will say that the other’s person is itchy and thus needs to be “touched” (read “hit” or “struck” here). In other words, the expression means that a person needs a sound beating.

母老虎

Pinyin:

Mu3 Lao3 Hu3

Translation:

“Woman tiger”

Meaning:

母 老虎 refers to a very aggressive woman. The woman is very quick to anger and temperamental, especially with her boyfriend or husband.

傻蛋

Pinyin:

Sha3 Dan4

Translation:

“Stupid egg”

Meaning:

Expression used to describe someone who is stupid.

鸭子

Pinyin:

Ya1 Zi

Translation:

“Duck”

Meaning:

鸭 子 simply means duck which just refers to the animal on its own. When used to describe a man however, it means he is a male prostitute. Interestingly enough, the female equivalent is called 鸡 (Ji1) or “chicken”.

二百五

Pinyin:

Er4 Bai2 Wu3

Translation:

“250”

Meaning:

A Chinese emperor wanted to punish the murderers who had killed his friend. In order to trick the assassins, he proclaimed that his now deceased friend was an enemy of his kingdom and that he would reward whoever killed him with a bounty of 1,000 coins.

Four people showed however to claim the reward. The Emperor then said: “Give them 250 coins each (split the reward in four) and kill them.”

The meaning of 250 is basically someone who is stupid.

长舌妇

Pinyin:

Chang2 Sh2 Fu4

Translation:

“Long tongue woman”

Meaning:

A woman who enjoys and spreads gossip is called a “long tongue woman”.

走狗

Pinyin:

Zou3 Gou3

Translation:

“A dog which follows”

Meaning:

This term refers to Chinese who used to collaborate with the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War. It basically means “traitor”.

落汤鸡

Pinyin:

Luo4 Tang1 Ji1

Translation:

“A chicken falls in the soup”

Meaning:

This expression simply means someones who gets soaked.

花花公子

Pinyin:

Hua1 Hua1 Gong1 Zi

Translation:

Difficult to translate. 花花 means “flower” and “公子” means “man”.

Meaning:

A 花花公子 is a playboy, a man who has many women in his life. In this expression “flower” refers to women.

你算哪棵葱

Pinyin:

Ni3 Suan4 Na3 Ke1 Cong1

Translation:

“Which onion are you?”

Meaning:

This expression is used to refer to someone who you looked down upon.

吃豆腐

Pinyin: Chi1 Dou4 Fu3

Translation: “Eat tofu”

Meaning:

This expression is used to describe a pervert, a man who will try to touch women without their agreement.